James Bevan, Innovate UK, Innovation Lead for Rail

In pursuit of a tech enabled transport system delivered through collaboration that joins the dots on questions such as where are the homes being built and how do you get to the station

Innovate UK is the UK’s Innovation Agency. We support business-led innovation in all sectors, technologies, and UK regions. Our mission is to help UK businesses grow through the development and commercialisation of new products, processes, and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive, and easy to navigate.

Since 2011, Innovate UK has been helping accelerate innovation in Rail. In 2017, Innovate UK started working with the Department for Transport (DfT) to set up the flagship First of a Kind (FOAK) Rail Programme. The program runs innovation competitions which address key industry challenges, and the overarching principle is to deliver live demonstrations to support adoption across the UK Rail network.

When designing competitions, we try to take a holistic approach, integrating other modes of transport where possible and relevant. There are three key areas which come to mind for how the wider transport sector best work together to meet multi-modal expectations and reduce end-to-end journey times:

The first area is policy alignment, making sure there’s an integrated transport plan and city plan. This alignment and vision needs to be set from the top, providing confidence to industry about the direction of travel. The transport system needs to be at the forefront of decisions and integrated into everyday life. However, it's not just about transport, housing, and urban designers as well as others need to be involved in these conversations. This needs to be co-created by all stakeholders.

Secondly, we need more and better collaboration between organisations. This ranges e-scooter companies, train operating companies, taxi firms, bus service providers, local government. Multi-modal journeys involve multiple stakeholders - collaboration between these stakeholders is key to delivering a good service.

Finally, we need to take leverage existing technology and data. There are two parts to this. Firstly, sharing existing cross-modal data of journey details to manage expectations. When I’m on a train, I want to know when the next bus will arrive at the train station. I want to be able to see a screen on the train that says the next bus is in five minutes. This allows me to decide on whether I’m going to make that connection, or if there’s an e-scooter to hire, or whether I need to call a taxi, because I need to be at my destination as soon as possible. Sharing that (largely existing) data between organisations is key. Data is also key for accessibility and encouraging customers to make longer journeys - data such as facilities available, toilets and step free access. The second part of technology that’s important is the ticketing element. We’ve talked about PlusBus, which is great, but I’d take that one step further. Why can’t my ticket include all transport modes within a city, including trains, trams, buses, and micro mobility. It also shouldn't be paper based anymore.